Suspension Techniques Sway Bars

[Capt._Ron]

I recently installed the front and rear ST bars on my s13 240sx. They helped tremendously. The car handles much flatter and seems to be much more predictable near the limit of grip or over the limit. The kit is about $240 from summit and is worth every penny. It comes with all the necessary bolts, bushings, and hardware. Without a doubt the best suspension modification I have done cheap, easy, and makes a huge difference.

[Banzai]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will have to look into getting some for my S14!

[Capt._Ron]

If you drive your s14 competitively in any way or if your an aggressive driver the sway bars would be an excellent addition. Even with stock springs and shocks you will notice a big difference.

[Banzai]

do u recommend them for the front and rear? My s14 has the SE sway bar in the rear, this one is way better than stock isnt it?

[Capt._Ron]

I honestly dont know very much about the s14 but im almost positive that the ST bar would be stiffer than even the SE bar and you will save a good bit of money by buying both bars together. I bought the rear bar first by itself and spent like 170 or 175 but since I have 2 s13's now I bought the kit and saved like $100. Also the sway bars are meant to work together and will most likely provide a more balanced set up.

[Barnacles240]

i know that the rear is 15 mm in the rear stock, which is tiny considering the front is 22mm, so anything larger in diameter than stock and is a reputable company will inccrease handling drastically

[flip]

I use a 22mm sway bar in the rear and i LOVE the results. It may be a little too much once I have power and want to drift at higher speeds but for now it's wonderful. Especially great for anyone that wants to drift without much power...

[Capt._Ron]

I use a 22mm sway bar in the rear and i LOVE the results. It may be a little too much once I have power and want to drift at higher speeds but for now it's wonderful. Especially great for anyone that wants to drift without much power...

Exactly! The car handles much flatter and is predictable with sway bars.

[santacruz77]

lol now sell them to me

[Neejay]

Good to hear, as ST sways are on my list of things to get...

[Beez_S13]

yeah, im about to get an s14 and the first thing i want to do after i get it running properly is build up the suspension. first things first, im installing the lowering springs that are coming with it, and then i am getting some energy suspension bushings, then sway bars. and then i will start working on building the engine up. but first things first, i need to get everything running good.

[turbology]

you can install front and rear seperately. It doesn't have to be together.
Sway bar only work in CORNERS. It help reduce body roll of a car OR reduce the "vertical distance/height difference" between left & right wheels in same axle.

If you travel straight, sway bar does nothing.
Having a thicker sway bar will not effect the comfort of the car when you travel in Interstate.
But when you hit a pot hole, you can feel it STRONGER.

Here is an example % of stiffnes increase when upgrade to thicker sway bar. Remember, different brand will have different stiffness. This is just example.
http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bulletins/010barup.pdf

rule of thumb,
if you increase your rear sway bar stiffness, you will have more oversteer in corners.
increasing front sway bar will increase understeer.
RULES OF THUMB !! :)

[bluuuurr]

cool.. I can buy those on my discount.. heheh

[Capt._Ron]

yea man you can get a crazy deal on those. Does summit have any coilovers for the s13 j/w ha ha

[flip]

do u recommend them for the front and rear? My s14 has the SE sway bar in the rear, this one is way better than stock isnt it?


I honestly dont know very much about the s14 but im almost positive that the ST bar would be stiffer than even the SE bar and you will save a good bit of money by buying both bars together. I bought the rear bar first by itself and spent like 170 or 175 but since I have 2 s13's now I bought the kit and saved like $100. Also the sway bars are meant to work together and will most likely provide a more balanced set up.


you can install front and rear seperately. It doesn't have to be together.
Sway bar only work in CORNERS. It help reduce body roll of a car OR reduce the "vertical distance/height difference" between left & right wheels in same axle.

If you travel straight, sway bar does nothing.
Having a thicker sway bar will not effect the comfort of the car when you travel in Interstate.
But when you hit a pot hole, you can feel it STRONGER.

Here is an example % of stiffnes increase when upgrade to thicker sway bar. Remember, different brand will have different stiffness. This is just example.
http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bulletins/010barup.pdf

rule of thumb,
if you increase your rear sway bar stiffness, you will have more oversteer in corners.
increasing front sway bar will increase understeer.
RULES OF THUMB !! :)

To all these comments above...

Its usually a good idea to match sway bars if they come in a kit. It will give you a better overall ballance. I.E. not oversteer or understeer biased too much.

For example my 22mm rear sway bar on my s13 is really stiff which causes oversteer. This is great for me since I don't have much power. It helps break the rear loose really easily but also hurts me in higher speed corners and drifts. I don't have as much traction at high speeds. In a corner I can actually feel the rear inside lifting. Its good for now because of my setup but overall I think I need either a matched front bar or smaller rear. Smaller rear is more likely since I'd like to get good traction at high speeds for drifting. I will simply compensate by adding power to get sideways.